Program will collect excess food from local growers

NORTH FULTON, Ga. — Alpharetta High School sophomore Brent Miller has devised an Eagle Scout project to benefit local charities, donating excess food from home growers to help battle food insecurity for local families in need.

Dubbed “Grower’s Connection,” Miller’s project stemmed from his volunteer work with North Fulton Community Charities (NFCC) during its Thanksgiving food drive.

He witnessed how much of an impact the food drive was making for local families struggling with food insecurity, and he formulated his plan to help with the same cause.

“Every year my family would have excess produce from our home garden. I knew about the food insecurity problems in our community, so I decided that we could use that excess produce to help the food insecurity problem,” Miller said.

Miller began his project by incubating 100 vegetable plants at his family’s home. The plants will be given out for free to Grower’s Connection supporters to grow on their own property. The harvest from those plants will then go to benefit NFCC and Meals by Grace, a Forsyth County-based non-profit that provides a pantry and meals for local families in need.

The plants will be distributed at Alpharetta City Hall on April 15.

Even those who don’t receive a plant from Miller’s incubator can donate excess food grown at a home garden to the cause.

Miller and a team of volunteers will take donations from June through September. Growers can drop off produce at the parking lots of the city halls of Alpharetta and Johns Creek or the Birmingham Village Publix parking lot every Tuesday and Friday. The volunteers will then transport the produce to NFCC and Meals by Grace.

Volunteers will be made up of the Alpharetta chapter of the Young Men’s Service League, Miller’s Boy Scout Troup 429, as well as students and club members from Alpharetta High School.

Miller said his project is a way to support the community and those in need, and that age is not a factor in one’s ability to help others.

“The project really means a lot to me,” he said. “I wanted to do something meaningful that would have a positive and lasting effect on the community. I feel it shows no matter how old you are you can make an impact in your community.”